Strip
by LuxaLucifer
Summary: He was stubborn, she'd give him that. She had never met a more stubborn man. She hadn't expected to strip search the First Enchanter today, but here she was. M for nudity.


I let this stupid lot get away from me, and I'm feeling real salty about this, and I just generally am kind of bitter about it, but I'm also an attention whore, so here I am posting this shit anyway...guess I shouldn't say "hope you like it," huh?

* * *

When she heard the angry footsteps, she let out a sigh. She'd been expecting this ever since she'd issued the order. She'd have to face him sooner or later.

He flung her door open, pale cheeks flushed from running or frustration or anger or just because he was Orsino.

"Good evening, First Enchanter," she said with a mirthless smirk, knowing that he would ignore her.

_"You strip searched the senior enchanters?"_

"A few hours ago. Where were you then, Orsino?"

Orsino's green eyes searched hers as though he could make sense of the world through them if only he had the key. "I was in Hightown! Telling Daron's family he died during the Harrowing! You _knew_ that!"

She shrugged. "Did I?"

Orsino looked about to have a coronary when she faced him properly. "There are three books missing from the inner chambers of the library. Only the senior enchanters have access to it, so we searched their quarters and then we searched them."

"And did you _find anything?_"

She saw the templar posted at the door fidget uncomfortably. She'd have to make sure that man never got a shift near the First Enchanter. She didn't want him...influenced.

"No," she said. "But it was a precaution I had to take."

"Knight-Commander, some of those men and women are over eighty years old! Elvin nearly died of fright!"

She wondered idly if Orsino's throat ever got sore after he got done with his one of his shouting matches.

"I have already explained the situation," she said coldly. "And I have no desire to repeat myself."

Orsino stopped then, hands frozen where he'd been gesturing them wildly. He lowered them slowly, a strange look on his face.

"You didn't search everyone with access to that part of the library," he said, his voice even, calm, and collected. She felt a chill run down her spine. She rarely heard him like this; it meant he was thinking. And that was frightening.

"You didn't search _me_," he said, pressing his gloved hand to his chest. "_I_ have access to those books."

She raised her eyebrows, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Are you asking me to search your rooms and..."

"Search me," he confirmed, mouth tightening into a hard line.

He couldn't look any worse than the senior enchanters did naked, was her first thought, before quickly dismissing it. "Are you trying to make a point?" she asked angrily.

"Oh, definitely," he agreed. "I'm just not sure what yet."

He was stubborn, she'd give him that. She had never met a more stubborn man. She searched his office and his room herself, finding nothing interesting. When she'd finished she stood and faced the man, who was standing at the door with his arms crossed.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked, surprising herself. "There's a guard of eight templars behind me when I do it."

"It won't be the first time templars have seen me naked," he said briskly. "Let's get this over with."

She pursed her lips. "There's really no nee-"

"Before she came to the Circle, Elvin was raped by a group of soldiers. Years and years ago, but it still haunts her. Armin was twelve when he came here, after spending his childhood in a low-class brothel. These are the stories of some of the people you stripped today, and mine is no better than theirs. If you can do that to them, you can do it to me."

His face might have been carved in stone for all the movement there was.

"Very well," she said. "Let me assemble the men."

It didn't take long for her to find the eight soldiers she'd used for the earlier strip searches. She probably didn't really need that many, but when a mage felt vulnerable, they were liable to turn into an abomination at any moment, and it was better safe than sorry.

She told Orsino to wait in his office, and that was where she found him, looking out the window that overlooked the templar hall. He was paler than usual, and looked like he was beginning to regret his decision. He didn't say anything of the sort, just looked at the templars she'd brought.

He turned even paler when his eyes fell on one man in particular. He licked his lips and looked away.

"Here?" he asked, eyes flicking to the templar to her right. She glanced over. Ser Alrik.

Ser Alrik, what was wrong with him? Then she remembered; he'd been one of the few to escape her wrath when she'd discovered that templars were exploiting the First Enchanter. She'd had no evidence, and he had connections. How could she had forgotten? It may have been twenty years ago, but she should have known better.

And she'd brought him to watch her strip Orsino. She couldn't order him to leave now, though, it would undermine her and make her look indecisive. She clenched her jaw before saying, "Do you have a problem with your office?"

"It's small, that's all. It isn't built for nine templars."

"It'll do."

He nodded nervously. "So do you want me to...?"

"Unless you'd like me to do it for you," she replied, unable to suppress a smirk despite herself. Hurt passed over his face briefly, but when she blinked it was gone.

He straightened, making her remember that he was taller than almost everyone in the room, including her. That had always and always would irk her. That, and that stupid staff of his, the one he was setting down as she stood there.

He stood tall as he unclasped his outer robe, which came off easily compared to the next set, where he undid tie after tie and clasp after clasp before it came off. Underneath that was a simple long robe, navy blue. He hesitated here, and she knew he must not have much under that. She was almost excited, she thought guiltily. She normally didn't even see Orsino's hands under the gloves, let alone the rest of his body.

She blinked, realizing her thoughts. How awful of her, to relish a man's self-sacrifice. Unneeded and unasked for, but still, a noble gesture. She should respect that.

She heard Alrik snicker behind her and felt anger coil in her stomach. She'd punish Alrik for that, that was for sure. Orsino must have heard, because he turned pink and slowed in his stripping.

"Continue," she barked.

He glared at her for a split second before getting down to the last layers, a thin under-robe that highly resembled a woman's shift. Alrik wasn't the only one snickering now, but this time Orsino didn't stop, just pulled it off, leaving him in his smalls, which he deftly discarded.

He was naked now, except his gloves and boots.

"Off," she ordered.

He peeled his gloves off and stepped out of his boots, wincing as he put his bare feet on the cold stone. Now he was naked, rubbing his hands up his arms as he shivered.

"Hands at your sides, please," she said, trying to soften her voice. He did as ordered, not meeting their eyes but looking above them instead.

He was thin, thinner than she'd thought, so thin that his thighs didn't meet even when he stood with his ankles touching. Pale, too. She made her eyes slide over his groin, not allowing herself to really see anything there. He turned at her order, revealing his back, which was covered in old scars from whipping. She didn't allow herself to feel pity at the sight of them; she knew what he'd done to deserve it.

He had a nice backside. She tried not to see it, but there were some things you just couldn't avoid looking at. More than nice, in fact, but fantastic. She'd be trying to get the image of Orsino's fantastic bottom out of her head for weeks, now, she knew it. She'd always wondered if those robes had been flattering something that wasn't there, but now she knew the truth.

She stepped forward and began to search Orsino's discarded robes, which he'd folded on his desk. He stood there while she did so, watched by eight sets of eyes.

"Clean," she announced. "You may leave," she ordered her templars, frowning at the lingering look Alrik shot Orsino as he left.

"Really, Meredith?" said Orsino quietly as he collected his clothes. "Did you have to bring _him?_"

"I forgot," she admitted.

He didn't believe her, she could see it in those angry green eyes.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, sighing. "Why humiliate yourself like that?"

Orsino grabbed his gloves and pulled them on, hiding the scars he refused to explain on his inner wrists. "I have to show my mages that I stand with them. I can't let your step all over like them without making a stand."

"And so you showed that by letting yourself be stepped on?"

"In a way, yes."

Meredith rose to her full height, managing to meet his eyes without looking up. Muddled green against clear blue. "I will never understand you, First Enchanter."

"I never expect you to," he replied. "But I wish you would try."

He pulled on his last robe, looking disheveled and tired. He'd just been on display for nine people, most of whom were young and fitter than him, letting them scrutinize his every flaw...which were fewer than Meredith had expected. Still, it could not have been an ego booster.

She opened her mouth to tell him that she respected what he'd done here, even if she didn't fully understand it. But before she could he spat, "Don't go behind my back like that again, Knight-Commander."

And he walked out, leaving a trail of resentment.

She meant what she'd said. She would never understand him.

* * *

why did i even write this


End file.
